Gargoyles: Sticks and Stone
by extremespeeds
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS FOR GARGOYLES SEASONS 2 AND 3 Set after the events of Ramson (Season 3 Episode 2, the last "canon" episode), the Manhattan Clan continues their life in the Big Apple, once again living with corporate head David Xanatos, who's now fully on their side. But besides the usual action, the Gargoyles now get to meet new faces, as different New Yorkers get to meet them.


**Gargoyles: Sticks and Stone**

**Nobody (Part 1)**

**New York City**

**1995**

**Sunday - Midday**

Traffic was the usual for New York City: packed and near immobile.

This was not a positive for the family of Will Medonza, who was currently in Lexington Avenue amidst moderately heavy traffic. The usual, really. One way streets were never friendly to the drivers that coursed through them, especially not on a packed Sunday like this one. The tan-skinned, dark-haired boy pushed up his glasses as he read through the blueprints on his hand, having managed to conjure up something perfect for the upcoming robot brawl at his middle school.

Too bad the 12-year-old couldn't really BUILD the robot himself.

"All the parts are in place, but I can't build this stupid thing to save my life!" he cursed as the car went through traffic.

"Why didn't you ask your friends at school?" his mom, the portly raven-haired lady behind the steering wheel, asked.

"I told you, they didn't want to help me!" Will said, grunting as he put the blueprint down. "I asked them for help and I get shoved into a locker! No one helped me out, and now I gotta deal with making that robot all alone, from scratch!"

"Well, dear, don't worry, I'll help you out later." the lady said, trying to help her son feel better. "It can't be that hard, your dad has some tools we can use."

"Like a welding torch?" her son asked with a raised eyebrow.

Silence ensued.

"...those aren't expensive, right?"

Will slid down the seat with a groan. That answer sealed his fate, and he knew it.

Looking at his school coming up on the side as his mother parked the car, the boy felt a pang of fear deep in his stomach. Being there on a Sunday was a thing of necessity, especially given his mother's answer, as this meant he'd have to use the laboratory and workshop the building provided for its students.

Unfortunately, that locker shove was a deep cut to his will to learn and be productive as a student. Especially when the one who did it was still there in the building, sharing classes with him, with teachers uncaring for his turmoil, or at least not doing enough to stop the bullying anyway.

"I'll have to stay until later, then…" he groaned further, slowly grabbing his backpack from the other side of the seat. "If I don't make it home till dinner, send help…"

"I'll be at work by then, dear…" his mother warned gently. "You can call me if you absolutely need me, though."

"If I'm not stuck in the locker again…"

His mom shrugged off the comment as tween drama. Adults always did, he thought.

Will paced himself to enter the school grounds. Outside at the fence, there were posters. Something about the new group around town, the so-called "Quarrymen", an anti-Gargoyle task force created to combat the supposed menace of these creatures that were spotted and shown live on TV, creating big debates about the possible danger they brought to the city of New York as a whole, and its citizens. The boy didn't believe they were dangerous. Not when humans could be so much worse.

"Great, they're putting up their stupid posters here, too…" Will muttered to himself.

He did stop for a second to look over at the fence and the wall it led up to. Graffiti was added to the side, things like "Gargoyles SUCK" and "GARGOYLES GO HOME!". Riveting, truly poetic statements. So poetic it made Will want to rip the painted bricks off the wall with his bare hands if he could.

"Idiots…" he cursed in his mind as he headed to the main building. "You're all just afraid of them because they're cooler than you… Bet Gargoyles don't go hitting each other with hammers…"

As if to further prove his point, he was immediately bumped by a passing taller kid. The same one, from one class forward. The guy with the tidy brown hair and the typical puffy jock jacket, despite the fact it was a robotics school without a traditional sports team. Lance Duvall grinned as he went by, looking back at Will with a condescending gaze.

"Sorry, tiny, didn't see you there." he said in his usual demeaning tone. "Maybe I will later."

The smaller kid clenched his fists, but ultimately said nothing as he made sure his blueprints were still there, which thankfully they were. He cursed under his breath as he headed to the workshop to try and work on his robot idea and ignore the implied threat, passing by an advertising poster for the trigger to this development in his school.

"XANATOS ENTERPRISES PRESENTS: THE GREAT ROBO-BRAWL! WEDNESDAY EVENING AT THE EYRIE BUILDING LOT!"

The famous corporate head David Xanatos announced the event as a way to make things "calm" between New Yorkers, given the whole Gargoyle crisis happening in New York at that point in time. Looking at the poster seemed to give Will a bit of a boost, as he clenched his fists in determination.

That championship would be his. He just had to insist on it.

**Nighttime**

The sun was slowly setting over Manhattan. At the Eyrie Building's parking lot, preparations were being made for the upcoming event, the Robo-Brawl, with the arena being set up and the seats progressively more set up for the attendees, which according to the ticket sales, promised a full house at least. Even for a multi-school championship for robot creators, these events hosted by the largest corporation in New York could still get the seats full.

David Xanatos didn't need much effort to get attention.

The CEO looked over the preparations, his assistant Owen staying close as usual. Hands in his pockets, Xanatos was confident in the purposes of this event, one the biggest being to calm down the citizens and distract them from this anti-Gargoyle sentiment stirred up lately, not helped by the creation of the Quarrymen. Unless, of course, one of them infiltrated the contest to try and get close to Xanatos for information, on which case the robots being showcased would be his own, and _vastly_ different from the mostly-harmless lot invented by the younger minds that would attend.

It had been a while, but it felt good to be in control again.

"Well, things seem to be going smoothly, all things considered." Xanatos commented, pacing back towards the building. "How is security looking, Owen?"

"All up to date and the tests have been run." the blond, stoic assistant answered. "The Steel Clan units have been upgraded, the perimeter defenses are online and the building alarms are on. To say nothing of the Gargoyles themselves, should they lend a hand."

"Excellent, because I want a full watch at all times." the businessman said calmly, but with a barely noticeable tinge of anger. "I won't tolerate a repeat of what happened with Alex."

"Noted, sir, and don't worry." Owen replied, before adding... "Now, with your permission, I would like to attend to another matter."

Xanatos looked at him with a raised eyebrow, curious. It was rare that Owen would excuse himself during periods like these.

"Something I should be concerned about?" he asked his assistant, keeping the professional tone but undeniably curious.

"Merely personal matters, nothing vital." the stoic blond said. "Let's just say it concerns my appreciation for the arts."

That clued in Xanatos nicely. Of course. His assistant's other life. With a knowing grin, he nodded.

"Alright, Owen, have your fun." the CEO dismissed, turning to walk to his building. "Just don't take too long to come back."

He didn't need to look back to know he was already gone from the spot. Predictable, which to Xanatos felt much better, and so ironic considering it came from a trickster.

The sun set eventually, vanishing into the horizon. And with it, the suspense for what was now a common scene at the turrets and walls of the ancient castle suspended high over the Manhattan skyline by Xanatos' own headquarters. The statues, positioned around the castle, with their wings, sharp claws, frightening visages and long tails, sculpted to strike down upon would-be invaders, to swoop in at a moment's notice. Normal statues these were not, as they were truly alive at nighttime, as per the curse laid upon them.

The clan was awakening.

Stone cracked and became loose, releasing the forms contained within. With their raw might, once the layers of solid matter became less resistant, feeble enough to be broken by their own strength, the beasts kept within broke through with minimal effort, which was nonetheless announced by proud, powerful roars and screams, which to these creatures was the equivalent of a mere yawn. A way to announce they were now awake to fly over the buildings.

Seven Gargoyles awakened and stretching themselves for the night ahead.

Despite the height of his building, it didn't take that long for Xanatos to reach the upper floors and climb towards the awakening clan that now resided with him once again. The clan he once tried to defeat, humiliate, use at every opportunity for his own selfish gains. The clan who saved his son from the clutches of an ancient faerie king and a corrupt politician. Grudges past, but still evidence that his goals for immortality and personal gain were no longer valid or welcome. It wasn't worth it. Not when he gained so much more by having them around.

Arriving at the top, into the castle courtyard, he was greeted by the clan's leader, Goliath, descending and folding his wings over himself, making them look like a cape.

"Perfect timing, as usual." the human said with a cocky smirk. "It seems Detective Maza's family dinner is ready. She called asking for you."

"I won't leave her waiting, then." Goliath said, in his usual deep tone, before turning to his friends. "Brooklyn, you lead the patrols for tonight."

"Absolutely." the red gargoyle with long white hair said. "Don't worry about us, and say hi to Elisa's parents for us."

Goliath nodded with a knowing smile before climbing up the wall and taking off gliding towards Elisa's home. The others gathered while Bronx, the only one of the group without wings, paced towards the inner quarters of the castle excitedly. Xanatos then moved on towards the others.

"Ah, Lexington, a word." he said, approaching the smaller clan member with greener skin and wings more like a bat's, under his arms. "I'm afraid Fox and Alex aren't here tonight. They're off visiting Mr. Renard."

"Oh, it's not a problem." Lexington said with a calm smile. "I'll be doing the patrol with the others anyway, helps to keep me busy."

"Yeah, yeah, just remember to not fly too low." Brooklyn warned as he joined the others. "Remember, it's dangerous to stay too close to the ground when there's a bunch of panicky people down there with guns."

"Then I'm going back down to look over the stage preparations." the human commented, fixing his overcoat slightly. "Don't forget it's going to get noisy Wednesday. I'll make sure there's a camera set up so you can watch from here."

"Oddly nice of you." the oldest one, Hudson, commented. "You'll forgive me if I'm still not accustomed to your acts of kindness."

"It doesn't cost anything to do it. So I might as well." Xanatos shrugged off and went on his way.

Hudson shrugged and joined the others for the patrol, as they each took their positions and glided off.

"Alright, Angela." Brooklyn laid out, looking at the only female Gargoyle among them, who looked almost like a carbon copy of Goliath. "You and Lexington fly to the west. I'll move straight ahead to the north, while Hudson and Broadway can cover the east."

With their route set, they spread out, keeping a fair distance from the ground at all times.

It took a while, but Will was pleased with the results so far. The remote control for his robot to the side, despite the fact he wasn't knowledgeable in building and more in the planning, the model didn't look half bad. It was almost like a bigger RC car, tankier and with a buzzsaw on the front that could retract into the body, while still keeping a decent enough speed to dodge and fall back in case the opponent got aggressive. It wasn't done, as it could use some more enhancements to its figure and defenses, but it was a very promising start. Something he could call a robot in the making. Those grades in theoretical classes weren't high for nothing, it seemed.

The boy also hadn't seen Lance the whole day. Surely he was home by now, as he was thankfully left alone by the bully, who didn't show up at the workshop at any point to annoy him. Something was amiss, but looking over the results of his craft, he didn't want to focus on that too much. What was important to him at the moment was his creation and the potential it still had.

Until a wrench was thrown into the machine. Literally.

Will didn't get the time to react. He could only watch as a wrench hit his robot as it stood on the workbench, making its wheels move and fall towards the ground. The crash was loud, but the damage wasn't clear from a simple glance. Probably loosened some parts within the structure itself. But while these thoughts were running through the boy's head, he was standing there horrified with his mouth agape. Hours of work, long hours using school resources to create his robot, to get some semblance of accomplishment all on his own… And now it was on the floor with a dent from the wrench that hit it.

"Aw, sorry 'bout that, my aim's really rusty these days."

Lance and three other bigger guys were at the door to the workshop, all of them pretty much other preppy stereotypes with the same puffy school jackets and expensive pants and sneakers under those same, combined haircuts down to the millimeter. Lance bore a grin of superiority while the others had smaller smirks.

"...why…?" was all that the smaller student could mouth off.

"Didn't the locker shoving set ya straight?" Lance commented, leaning on the doorframe. "If not, well, we're gonna win that brawl ourselves, ya get me? The less competition the better, and we figured 'hey, might as well start with the SMALL fry'."

The group laughed at their "boss"' joke while Will clenched his fists as he looked down. This was crossing a line. All the bullying, the name-calling, that was harsh and unfair but at least it was typical. This time it was a straight attack at Will's personal dream. A wrench in the machine in the most literal sense.

And the projectile was still on the workbench…

"Heh, come on, go home." Lance said, preparing to leave. "Not a big deal, right? Always next time… If there IS one."

He chuckled as he turned around to leave, until…

_**THUNK!**_

Lance held the back of his head where the wrench hit him. It was a loud impact, too, probably hurt something, despite the rather weak throwing from Will. The older boy grunted in audible pain as the tool fell to the floor. The other guys looked at the smaller student and it was momentarily frightening. They had never seen such rage coming from one of the younger students like at that moment.

"At least… I MADE my own robot!" Will shouted at them. "You rich preppy snobs couldn't plan a robot on your own if it CAME IN A BOX!"

They just stared between Will and Lance as the brown-haired jockish student grunted a bit more before turning to look at the other kid. Will's edge of anger immediately dulled when he saw the implied death threat in Lance's gaze.

"...Alright, you know what?" Lance said, clearly fuming. "I was gonna let you go with the broken robot… Now I'm gonna make you miss that contest for your HOSPITAL BILLS!"

Thinking fast, Will threw another tool their way, an old rusted pair of pliers that the boys dodged, or at least tried to, as it still hit the left-most boy on the shoulder. It didn't hurt as much as the wrench to Lance's head but that wasn't the intention to begin with. It was a distraction, as Will grabbed the remote control and ran, jumping out the window into the grass and out the school gates, hearing the four grunting and shouting out "GET THE NERD!" or something to that effect as they followed him, hot on his heels. Never had the boy experienced this much panic from a bully before. Now it really sounded like they were out for his blood, dogs hunting a rabbit through the concrete forest.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Will screamed out as loud as he could to any passerby citizen that could do something.

Unfortunately, the neighborhood wasn't so active at night, and the walk to his home wasn't exactly all that short, so he had to either keep running, hide or find a way to misdirect the bullies chasing him, because he was sure help wasn't coming.

At least not from the ground.

Running down an alleyway after getting a bit more of a headstart, Will gasped when he came across a chain link fence on his way. He figured he could try to climb it but by that point the four would've caught up already. He was trapped.

A brick hit his leg and made him fall to a knee, the pain making him unable to move properly. Being turned around and given a full punch to the face then made sure he was fully on the ground, facing up to his attackers. The three other guys had tools from the workshop in hand, while Lance grabbed Will up by the scruff of his shirt and readied his fist.

"Didn't have to be this way, nerd…" he said through barely concealed rage. "This is all on you."

Will closed his eyes, including his left one which now had a big shiner under it, and waited for the beatdown, hoping deep down that anything could come and stop this, that something could save him.

His answer came from a pair of inhuman screeches from the night sky.


End file.
